Could longer school day be coming to Trenton?

TRENTON — President Obama has championed a longer school year — and longer school days.

Two state Senators are backing a bill aimed at making those changes in New Jersey.

And now Trenton school officials are on record backing the idea.

Add it all up, and Trenton public school students could soon be spending more time in the classroom.

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“I would be very interested in pursuing it,” said Trenton school board President Toby Sanders.

The proposal took a step forward recently when the Senate Education Committee approved a bill sponsored by committee Chairwoman Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz (D., Essex), and Vice-Chairwoman Sen. Shirley K. Turner (D., Mercer). That bill would create a pilot program allowing up to 25 school districts to increase the length of the school day and school year.

The proposal calls for tax credits totaling $144 million for corporate contributions to fund the three-year pilot program.

Turner said Trenton should pursue the idea because it will help students who are far behind compared to other districts in the state. Trenton schools finish near the bottom of the state’s rankings in test scores and dropout rate, but new Superintendent Francisco Duran — who came from the Philadelphia schools — has promised changes.

Turner said “the program will cost more money but we will aggressively seek support from the private sector as they will benefit from 100 percent tax credits. I am optimistic that Superintendent Duran will want to apply for this program.”

Duran said in an email that he is “always in support of any initiative that will give the school district an opportunity to increase the amount of time for students in core subjects, provide more time for enrichment that will make learning fun, and allow for extra time so that teachers can collaborate with each other and plan.”

“The key behind this pilot program is to make sure that we do not just simply increase the length of the school day or school year and do the same things,” he continued. “If we were to participate in this program I would work closely with principals and teachers in order to increase our ability to provide fun, relevant learning environments, while also using this additional time to help teachers plan and work together to create rigorous and challenging learning experiences for all students.”

The typical school calendar for public schools in New Jersey and in the United States — is 180 days. Dozens of schools in the state, many of them charter schools, extend learning time beyond the traditional school year, according to the National Center on Time and Learning, a nonprofit research group in Boston, Mass.

“Our academic calendar dates back to a time when children were expected to help with work on the farm. It makes no sense to stick to a tradition that provides two months of vacation to students in the summer purely for tradition’s sake,” said Turner.

Under the bill, school districts would submit an application to the education commissioner to participate that would need to include documentation that participation in the pilot program would be supported by a majority of school district staff and parents. The commissioner would select up to 25 school districts for participation based on factors related to the program’s potential impact on student achievement.

“While New Jersey students do well nationally, our country as a whole is lagging behind its global competitors. More time in the classroom if used effectively will help to increase academic achievement, improve student enrichment opportunities and educational offerings. This is critical to ensuring our students are prepared for college and career but also that they are able compete in a 21st Century global economy,” said Ruiz. “This program will allow us to study the success of a longer school day and longer school year and measure its effectiveness in improving educational outcomes.”

The New Jersey Education Association, in a statement, said it supports the concepts embodied in the bill, but has concerns about the measure’s “lack of specificity.”

The NJEA listed several areas of concern, including its belief that “a direct appropriation would be more appropriate to provide a stable source of funding, as we do not know the level or extent of interest by corporations to participate in and sustain the program.”

According to its statement, the NJEA is willing to work with the sponsors on the details of the bill.